Vanguard of the Shinobi
by NeonZangetsu
Summary: The shinobi race was decimated by the reapers. Their people indoctrinated, harvested, slaughtered without mercy. But not all perished during the harvest. Some survived. Now a cache of alien technology has been discovered upon their world. Secrets abound and much more, in the Vanguard of a lost race thought to be long since extinct. Will they survive the next cycle? NarutoxAshleyx?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Someone once tapped me to write a NarutoxAshley story for Mass Effect. That someone has been very persistent as of late! To clarify, this takes place some months before the beginning of the first Mass Effect.**

**Now...**

**...onto Vanguard of the Shinobi!**

_"You there! What...what year is it?"_

_~?._

**Awaken**

The full moon shone bright and clear as it peeked through the clouds. A symbol of light, a symbol of peace, a sign of tranquility in the night. Serenity at its finest, the silver light peering through the clouds danced along the plains of Eden Prime, utterly ignorant of the men and women hard at work below. Good men and women, delving deep into the earth, searching for clue that might help verify mankind's existence. Their efforts were closely guarded by an alliance squad, responsible for the scientists' protection as much as their own.

"Um...Gunnery Chief Williams!" One of the technicians shouted, his voice rising over the cacophony of drills and excavation tools. "Ma'am, I think you might want to see this!"

A young woman with long, lustruous raven hair turned at the voice, idly brushing a bit of dirt from her pink-and-white bodysuit. Her armour had served her well during her service on Eden Prime, but the kinetic barriers were meant to repel bullets, not clods of offensive dirt and god knew what else.

"Coming!" She grumbled beneath her breath.

_"What?"_

"Damnit, I said I'm coming, Johnson!" Williams bit back an oath; she coud scarcely hear herself think over the roar of machinery! As if on cue the incessant whir of the drills cut off, leaving her with silence. There came a dull thud from below the digsite, punctuated by the man's sharp yelp of surprise.

"What are you-hey! Hands off!" The sound of a scuffle, a gunshot, then silence.

"Johnson?" Ashley called, dread subsuming her. "Are you alright?"

"D-Down here, ma'am." came the reply, sounding abashed. "My pistol discharged...sorry about that."

Ashley Williams bit back a yawn and re-shouldered her rifle. The hour was late and, while she seriously doubted they'd find anything of importance here, she was obligated to grant the engineer's request. God, of all the times to have her hair down! Grumbling to herself about the late hour of their discovery, the Gunnery Chief trapsed down into the dig site, careful not to lose her footing on the steep incline. As she descended she could not help but to wonder; what could possibly be so important that she found there nearl took her breath away-scratch that to hell, it _did_ take her breath away.

Sitting atop what looked like a metal pod, was a boy. Scratch that, too. He wasn't young enough to be a boy but not old enough to be a man. A youth, then. He was clad in black and orange rags his attire clearly having suffered while his skin had not. Rough blond bangs shaded a whiskered, chiseled face, from which eyes of the brightest shappire shone. They locked upon Williiams, pinniong her with their frantic desperation, as though she could somehow offer a clue as to how he'd come to be here. Johnson made as if to touch the pod beside the blonde...and found himself sorely regretting his action as the youth greeted him with a fierce profanity an a boot to the face, sending him sprawling.

**_"Baka yarou!"_**

_Japanese?_ Ashley mused, the translators in her suit kicking in. _That's strange..._

"Alright alright!" Johnson pleaded, raising his hands lest the blond kick him again. "I won't touch anything! Just don't kick me again!" The blond muttered foul something beneath his breath, and her translator caught it as:

...don't you dare touch her, asshole."

_That_ piqued Ashley's attention. Was there someone else in that pod? She didn't have a chance to wonder; because the blond was staring at her again. She noticed the wound in his arm, blood spilling from where he had surely been shot by Johnson. Whomever he was, the youth didn't seem to care much for the wound; hell, he scarcely seemed to even register it, going so far as to dig into the injury with his fingers. Before Ashley could think to stop him he emerged with the bullet, throwing it down upon the earth, blood spurting from the freshly torn wound. As Ashley looked on in horrified awe she began to understand. Whereas his shoulder had once been a tattered mess it was now beginning to heal; the grisly muscle knitting itself shut even as she observed.

"Oi, lady...are you in charge?" He drawled, heedless of her shock.

A muscle jumped in Ashley's jaw.

"My name is not _lady,_ kid." She straightened, contemplating whether she should bring her assault rifle to bear. "Its Ashley. _Gunnery Chief_ Ashley Williams."

"That's too long." the youth grumbled. "How about I just call ya Ash, ya know?"

Ashley bristled.

_Ya know?_

"Are you one of the colonists?" she asked.

"Colonists?" The youth balked at her, "I'm a shinobi, not some damn colonist!"

"And what the hell is a shinobi?"

The blond blanched.

"You...don't know what a shinobi is?"

Ashley shook her head.

"In that case, I have only one question." the blond mumbled.

"And that would be?"

_"What year is it?"_

**A/N: And there you have it! NarutoxAshley! I decided to leave her with her hair down, because I think we can all agree she looks much better like that, neh? Anyone care to guess just how Naruto ended up on Eden Prime? Alhough I think its fairly obvious, I'll just say this...he is not a prothean, he is a shinobi!****Which means Eden Prime would be... ****And who oh who is in that pod beside him?**

**So, in the immortal words of Atlas...**

**...review, would you kindly?**

**R&R! =D**


	2. Reminisce

**A/N: I return! I've been on an updating slew as of late, and I finally realized I've been neglecting Vanguard of the Shinobi as well. I know you're all deviously curious to know just who is in that pod Naruto was so eager to guard, and how many of his kind survived the reaper harvest. Well now, with this chapter...**

**...I am proud/pleased to provide you with that very answer!**

_"There's someone I'd like you to meet..."_

_~Uzumaki Naruto._

**Reminisce**

_"2183 CE."_

With these words the boy_-he couldn't have been more than nineteen, maybe twenty at the most-_gawped at Ashley, his trembling fingers losing their tentative hold on the coffee cup. Ashley winced, both as the ceramic mug fell from his trembling fingers and as it shattered upon the floor. _Damnit, that was my favoite mug!_ She'd leant him the cup of caff in the hope that it would calm his nerves, allowing him to open up to her and tell her his story. Apparently not! Not only she was down one mug, but he hadn't said so much as a word to her since leaving the dig site!

Now, inside the small quarters that qualified for a med bay on Eden Prime, she found herself fuming once more. Seated on the table opposite her the shinobi said nothing, although his forlorn features suggested he had not expected to wake in this day and age. Steeling herself for whatever reaction he might produce, the gunnery chief took a seat beside him. Naruto didn't bat an eyelash. Hell, he didn't even seem to notice her at all. A small frown marred Ashley's face.

"Look," She began, "I know this must be a lot to take in. Try to take deep breaths."

"Easy for you to say, ya know." her reassurance earned a grumbled retort from the shinobi. He reached up to massage his temples. "You're not the one who just came out of a coma."

"Point." Ashley conceded.

"Thank you, by the way."

"For what?"

"For not hitting with whatever those things were" Naruto indicated her rifle, laid flat across the bench opposite him. "

"You've never seen a gun before?"

"Not really, no." he winced and rubbed at his shoulder. "Damn things hurt like a bitch, though.

Ashley couldn't help herself; she laughed, and, almost without thinking, reached over to punch the younger man in the shoulder.

"Don't mention it."

"Believe me, I won't."

"Hey, if you need anything, just let me know." She ventured these words with unease; because she'd had no idea how she might comfort the young man sitting next to her. He might've appeared nromal, but, were one to stare at him overlong they would soon realize he was anything but. It was in the way he held himself; ready for action at a moments notice. He was tense. Alarmingly so. She'd seen PTSD in soldier's before fresh out of the First Contact War. Now that it was quiet again, she could see the discomfort in his stance, the tense state of his arms as they gribbed the table.

"Are you alright?" Ashley ventured the question hesitantly. "You're looking a little stressed...

Naruto remained utterly oblivious her words, however; his attention had returned inward, his shoulders seeming to sag beneath his flame-colored coat. Slowly he unbound his hitiate from his forhead, gingerly removing the metal headband and placing into his lap. Peering into his reflection, he rubbed a hand against his whiskered cheek, as though he somehow expected to find wrinkles in this youthful visage. Finding nothing, he raised his gaze, affixing the gunnery chief with a heavy stare.

"We were gone for so long," he whispered, and Ashley knew at once he spoke of his years in stasis.

"Who is this 'we' you keep talking about?"

Abruptly, the blond brightened.

"You _did_ find the other pods, right, boss lady?"

Ashley blanched, and not just at her newfound title.

Ah yes, then there was the matter of the pods they'd found. There were hundreds of them down there, each registering a faint signature beneath their indestructible coffins. Hundreds. Enough for a small army. They'd managed to convince him to leave the pods for a medical evaluation; even so she could see he was anxious to return to his vigil. He was in perfect health. Despite being in stasis for hundreds-if not thousands-of years, he was in perfect health; he hadn't aged a day since stepping into that stasis pod. She'd yet to rest out the exact numbers from the youth who called himself a shinobi, but she knew for certain the Alliance wouldn't be so circumspect in their methods when they found out about this. _Wait._ Did they have to know about this? Ashley immediately rebuked herself for the treasonous thoughts. Of course they did! This wasn't something she could keep under wraps!

"We...did find other pods." She admitted.

"How many?" Naruto pressed.

"A few hundred."

Naruto's face fell.

"O-Only a few hundred?"

"You were expecting more?" Ashley balked.

"Thousands went into stasis." Naruto murmurred. "Are you sure there aren't more pods? Did you check?"

At these words, Ashley bristled. Who was _he_ to question her?! Her job was to guard the technicians, not assist them on the dig site! Johnson and the others were having a fit over all the data and readings they'd taken from Naruto. Blood tests, skin samples, DNA... They were calling this the 'discovery of the decade' and would've run still more tests on the baffled blond had she not beat them back with a stick. It was a miracle she'd managed to shut down communications before someone decided to tell the Alliance about this discovery. Wrangle that much information from them indeed! at all!

"Look, kid-

Now, it was Naruto's turn to bristle.

"I am _not_ a kid." Something in those eyes of his told her to pursue the matter at her own peril. No, she realized, those were not the eyes of a child; nor were they those of an ignorant youth. These, were the eyes of a man. He'd bene through pain; he'd seen and suffered for what he had, just like her. They were alike, in a way. But that didn't mean Ashley had to _like_ him!

"Oh really?" She scoffed. "How old are you? Seventeen?"

"Twenty!" The youth snapped back, a vein throbbing in his forehead. "What about you, huh?! What ar ya, forty or something?!" That tore it. Ashley wasn't quite sure when she leaned forward, only that she did, and her forehead was now pushing up against the blonde's, her brown eyes boring fiercely into his blue. In any other situaition she might've blanched at such close proximity; right now, she was far too furious to care.

_"Excuse me?"_

"I'll have you know I'm-

"You're?" Likewise, Naruto refused to be swayed, meeting her stare with a complacency that bordered on chilling. Ashley chewed on her lip, suddenly aware of her close proximity to the youth. If he was at all flustered by their close contact, he was doing very little to show it.

But what had caused their mass exodus in the first place?

"Naruto, right?"

"Hmm?"

"You guys aren't protheans, are you?"

"The fuck is a prothean?" Naruto frowned. "I already told you, I'm a shinobi!"

"And that is?"

"A shinobi is-" Naruto cut himself off. "Well, that would take awhile to explain."

There was a long moment of silence in which they appraised one another.

"Why exactly did you guys go into stasis?"

Any trace of smile-or what amounted to one-vanished with those words.

"I...don't think I'm willing to tell you that just yet." He paused, steepling his fingers. "But I will tell you this; we'll be prepared, this time. All of you will. I won't let Baachan's plan go to waste." His words sent a chill up and down Ashley's spine, but she carefully ignored it and pressed on, regardless.

"Baachan?"

"Ah, gomen." Naruto apologized. "I meant grandma Tsunade."

Ash shook her head in disbelief.

"God, you really are a strange one-

A harsh _crrrrraaaaack_ resounded outside the enclosure, silencing whatever she might've said.

_**!**_

Ashley was afforded only a brief glimpse of Naruto's reaction to the sound; the blonde's eyes flashed red, his rounded irises turning sinister and slitted. And then he was gone, crashing through the nearest wall, tearing through the steel as though it were wet tissue paper. Sparks skittered across the floor, producing a golden flash as the youth vanished in a sursurus of shouts and snarls. Less than a second later, the screaming started. Williams had only just made it outside when she realized it was Naruto doing most of the shouting, not the men and women who served under her.

Crossing the encampment in swift strides, she beheld the blazing blond in all his glory; sheathed in golden light as though it were a second skin. All eyes were set upon him, and even then _he_ was the one glaring bloody red daggers at the lot of 'em. As she drew closer, she could hear him gesticulating, hollering wildly.

"No no no!" The shinobi was screaming at them, his voice piquing with distress as he watched the technicians scanning the pod with their omni tools. "Baka yarou! Kono yarou! Wrong! Wrong wrong wrong! You're doing it all wrong! Outta my way!" Storming forward, he all but swatted a nearby tech aside, a viscious backhand all but sent the poor man flying across the dig site in a broken heap of body and bone. Ashley ordered a medic to attend the man and her squad to stand down in the same breath; silently praying she wasn't making a serious mistake.

"Tell your men to stay out of my way, boss lady!" Naruto barked up at her; gone was the peace of earlier; now his words were little more than animalistic snarl. "If they break even one of these pods I swear to kami I'll sic Kurama on them!"

Ashley had no idea who this 'Kurama' was, but she had the succinct feeling she'd find out the hard way. Naruto bounded toward a nearby pod with intent, it might have been the one he was guarding before. Or it might not, the gunnery chief mused, as she watched the shinobi abruptly reverse directions, his path taking him across the digsite and back towards her. As he came closer she could see that his very body shimmered with all too much light; it was if a small sun were shining through his skin. Black, tribalistic markings lay etched into his shimmering body from his arms to his cloak, all the way down to-

_Oh my god._

The gunnery chief felt her cheeks darken as he bent down to pick up a nearby chunk of rock, subsuquently hurling it out of his way as though it weighed no more than a mere pebble. But that wasn't what had her sight, nor her attention. She'd gotten a rather good look at something just now. _Stop that!_ She chastised herself, _I am not staring at his ass!_ She wasn't! She couldn't! She shouldn't! She barely even knew him!

"You wouldn't happen to know how to use chakra, would you?" Naruto abruptly asked,his voice drifting across the dig site to reac her. Caught staring, Ashley blustered her surprise.

"Chak-what now?"

_"Aargh!"_ Naruto flung up his arms in exasperation. "Simpletons! Forget it! I'll do it myself!"

Without another word the blond stooped down before the stasis pod, his gaze fixated intently upon a point Ash couldn't quite see. Running his hand almost lovingly across its smooth surface, he whispered something in his own dialect, the words so soft her translator couldn't detect them.

"..."

Naruto muttered the words once more beneath his breath and slapped one hand down upon the pod; the blow causing the metal casing to ring like a hollow bell. Nothing happened. Naruto struck it again, his open palm crashing down upon the pod like a hammer, producing another, almost musical note. It was not until he'd struck the casing several times and in several different places, producing a different note each time, that Ashley realized his intent. With each strike, he was opening it. The melody was as eerie as it was haunting and yet it was soothing; almost like a lullaby.

Ashley had the succint feeling she'd never forget it, as long as she lived.

Finally, the blond took his fingers away from the pod and pressed them together before his chest, arms folded, palms facing one another. There was a long moment of silence as the final note faded into obscurity, then silence prevailed over the dig site once more. Picking her way down the slope towards him, Ashley registered a spark of irritation in the shinobi's glowing visage.

"Nothing happened." Despite herself, the marine felt the need to point this out.

"Shh!" Naruto shushed her. "I'm concentrating!"

"Did you just shush me?"

"Yes, I did!" The shinobi stuck out his tongue. "Now, would you kindly let me do my work?"

Crimson eyes drifting shut, a sinister scarlet glow enveloped him, clinging to his body like a second skin, summoning a silent breeze. Ethereal in nature, stemming from his interlocked hands, the aura spread outward from him, seeking the pod, stretching across the rectangular coffin in crimson streamers until it too, was bathed in blinding light.

_"Kai!"_ Naruto barked the word with such authority that everyone flinched. "Release!"

With an earsplitting hiss the casing cracked open, venting steam into the night sky. A dainty hand-a woman's hand-stretched out of the mist, and Naruto readily accepted. Revealed to the residents of Eden Prime was the lustrous form of a young woman, her piercing green eyes shining like jade stones, her heartshaped face framed by sunset-colored hair. Her blue dress flowed with her as she stumbled/stepped out of the pod; and were it not for Naruto, she might've fallen flat on her face. As it was the blond was barely there catch her in time. She sagged against him, her breaths coming in short, labored gasps. Clinging to Naruto as she was, a thorn of jealousy pricked at Ashley. Wait a second! Why the _hell_ was she jealous? So what if this woman was beautiful. So what? It wasn't like she cared! Not at all!

After what felt like an eternity, said woman finally spoke.

"How long?" Were the first words to leave her full lips.

"Too long." Naruto replied, helping her to stand. "You're looking well, by the way."

"How many others?"

"Some, but not all."

"Alright," Ashley frowned, "Someone wanna include the human over here?"

"Boss lady," Naruto indicated Ashley with a small, sheepish smile, "I'd like you to meet someone very special to me. The fifth Mizukage and my fiance, Mei Terumi." With these words, the strange golden glow that had enveloped Naruto began to fade, his scarlet eyes slowly returning, to their usual, true blue. The gorgeous woman known as Mei turned towards him, taking Naruto's hand in her own, gripping it tightly. As he turned to speak with her, discussing how they should release the others, Ashley felt herself receding inward, taken aback by his earlier words.

_"Fiance."_

Try as she might, she could only blink, left dumbstruck by this revelation. Oh. Well that sucked. But hadn't Naruto said he was about to open all the-

_"Kai!"_

There came a sharp snap hiss, the sound of hundreds of depressurized pods rising around her in crescendo; yanking her out of her reverie. Steam spilled across the dig site, elicting startled cries from both scientist and guard alike. Already she could see people moving within the fog, rising, stirring, standing. Voices rose and fell in eeirie disharmony, the sounds of Naruto's vanguard reawakening after years of deep stasis hibernation, a sound unlike any other. But there were far fewer of them then there should be. She could see them now as the mist faded, but instead of numbering in the upwards of hundred there seemed to be merely dozens. Some lay still in their pods, refusing, or perhaps unable, to rise after years of being in a vegetative state. Naruto said nothing, but the ashen expression he wore confirmed that even he, had not been expecting this. Ashley's thoughts stradled the realm of the profane, her mind spitting curses as, one after another, these warriors, these shinobi, began to rise.

Oh.

Oh fuck.

Oh fuck all kinds of duck.

_How was she going to explain this to the Alliance?!_

**A/N: And there we have it! A substantial number of shinobi survived the war, but not all of them survived being put into stasis. And what would you expect? Naruto has the Kyuubi to keep him fresh and invigorated, but the others are just that; mere mortals with finite lifespans. I know its a crushing blow to realize only a hundreds instead of thousands are in stasis, but it had to be done; there was simply no way to keep that many shinobi alive and NOT experience galactic repercussions regarding the fate of the universe. And haha! Mei Terumi! Betcha didn't see that coming, did ya?! The pairing is still NarutoxAshley, but with a now amusing little twist =D And does anyone know Ash's exact age? I'm a bit at a loss for it, meself...**

**The events of Mass Effect start up next chapter and we see who else survived whatever it was the wiped out the shinobi *cough*reapers*cough*...it'll be a good one! Naruto opening up all those pods at once without any thought as to the consequences...yeah, that is so him LOL. ****So, in the immortal words of Atlas...**

**...review, would you kindly?**

**R&R! =D**


End file.
